project89

iTrader: (1)

yeah i was but i didnt have a tt v8 thirdgen at the time either , just the v6 turbo car

92rsvortec350

iTrader: (8)

I just used a adapter

bigarmzz

just noticed that the $200 ching chong hsr isn't on ebay anymore....searched stealth ram tpi and only found the holley one....day late and a dollar short evidentally

project89

iTrader: (1)

give it a few days and im sure they will get more in

anesthes

iTrader: (12)

Spoke to them Thursday. 2-3 weeks out. Waiting for another boat form China to dock and unload.

I might pick one up when they become available again. It would allow me to run the throttle body on the front of the car without replacing my hood. I think I have a LT1 throttle body I can use on it.

-- Joe

kmcn47

thank god i thought that perhaps american trademark and copyright laws might have had an influence on china for once. thank god not, i want one of these. i'm finally working again and can finally afford to get my baby to FI hello mpg and drive ability anythings better than my quadrajunk and 6mpg

Steve Mack

iTrader: (5)

I would like to try one on my 400.I don't want to get into all the porting of my Edlebrock TPI setup.

thebandit50187

jegs says the speedmaster pce148.1048 (another cheap HSR knock off) will be available to ship 2/3/15 for $200

anesthes

iTrader: (12)

Same knockoff. The company changed names from pro-comp to Speedmaster.

I noticed Jegs have fully embraced their product line, yet Summit has not. Smart move for Jegs.

-- Joe

project89

iTrader: (1)

http://store.speedmaster79.com/c-193...ng&pageSize=36

Steve Mack

iTrader: (5)

I'll look for Jegs Feb.catalog for the Chinese HSR.

formula1LE

iTrader: (3)

Wow...I'm waiting for China to unveil a Corvette knockoff at an autoshow any year now for about 20K!

formula1LE

iTrader: (3)

China may catch up eventually-I have friends who tig weld for a John Deere supplier and they had Chinese reps (at the request of Deere-wtf?) take a tour of their company and ask about how they as a company build stainless hydraulic tank reservoirs from raw sheets of steel to the finished product. Basically told them almost everything (in general terms) about how to build them according to Deere's specs. Deere wanted to see if they (the Chinese) could build a similar product-but, when asked specifically about how to build/setup the various robotic programs (water and laser jet cutting, robotic Mig welders, various tig welding specs, etc) they stopped them dead in their tracks saying it was proprietary information and were not at liberty to share their own R&D. So, China appears to want a free ride to economic dominance.

As for performance, who did we copy? I don't remember recalling Vic Edelbrock Sr. competing with shing song moon on the Bonneville salt flats or bootleggers traversing the Shanghai country sides in a hopped up coupe. Nor do I recall Chinese WWII veterans coming back home to race cars outfitted with NOS used in fighter planes to gain more altitude and now applying it to drag racing.

I'm not going to rant forever on this matter since I believe its a personal choice why you buy the performance parts you do, but I take pride personally in purchasing a part from a US built/manufactured performance company. China is like the Wal-Mart of the performance world-most people don't care if its a little on the crap side of quality as long as its cheap. But, realize that before long that will be all that is available to buy.

Scorpner

iTrader: (4)

Unfortunately many US companies were purchased by foreign investors and technology like that has already been given out, or in fact mandated. Good to hear that it didn't happen in this case.

I agree on buying American when you can. It was much more popular in the 1970's but we seemed to have lost that pride over the decades. The difference back then is that people were more united and understood the importance of protecting our own interests. I personally feel that is something lost to the majority for too long, and even if we tried to re-establish that, it wouldn't do much good.

anesthes

iTrader: (12)

The problem with a lot of american companies is labor unions. The absurd salaries they must pay to low or moderately skilled workers just to get parts made is a huge reason american products cost so much more than china.

American companies shouldn't make anything. They shouldn't continue to feed union greed. Let american companies design and patent, and let workers over seas make the components.


-- Joe

Scorpner

iTrader: (4)

That has been a long standing debate and a standard conservative position imo. I have a bit of a twist on that though. If the American system had kept its proprietary benefits (trade secrets, patents etc.) and competitive advantage we could have maintained decent wages for most Americans (this was also why unions promoted “buy in America” so much). I have seen where unions have lowered general wages/benefits in times of need, but then have had a difficult time getting them back when the economy turns around. Which is why I have started to wonder if they're simply protecting their hard earned gains. What they are doing (imo) is trying to get a fair share of the pie which actually is the American way. An example of what most see publicly might be an older union employee making too much while new hires make substandard pay. When the economy goes bad then the higher benefits are pointed out publicly while ignoring the new hires. I do understand how union pay can create a drag on a business, but they can also standardize quality of work performed and free up some management resources as well.

I think some of that is turning around. I used to be more concerned with China but not as much anymore. One is that as China grows, so will their wages and in turn hopefully reduce their unfair advantage in labor costs. Another is that we are moving ahead in gas production which makes transportation cheaper for us. Then another is the increase of automation in America which I hope will put most of the labor issues to rest, or at least reduce them. I'd like to think that we could design and patent our way out of this but I'm not as convinced that will help us though.

anesthes

iTrader: (12)

What is a 'decent wage' for hitting a button on an assembly line?

Nah, unions are just a drag on progress. They were useful in a time when there was no OSHA, no government oversight, no 50,000 pages of legislature protecting everyone. Now they are simply a bunch of bullies that force companies to pay way to much for low skilled workers. Case in point: Hostess

We've been doing automation for 25 years. That's the problem. The chinese girl pushes the button for a fraction of what some white guy in the US wants to push the button. Wages in china may slightly increase, but should they really? How much are those jobs really worth?


Anyhow back on topic. I hope the speedmaster intakes are available again soon.

-- Joe

formula1LE

iTrader: (3)

A good book to read that will open some eyes on this is "Confessions of an economic hitman". It really puts the exploitation of cheap localized labor into perspective. You simply cannot win against it. IF China went away from a socialist/communist government maybe-but otherwise, no.

Scorpner

iTrader: (4)

That's true if you only look at unskilled labor. Unions are also involved in teaching the trades needed for skilled labor. One of the points from that was when a company buys out an American company they often send American engineers and technicians to personally train Chinese employees these skills as well. Now say if these people were more organized and recognized the threat, they could have refused them to be sent over there. If the only thing you're thinking about is $15 for McDonald's workers, then yeah of course the financials aren't going to work out. FWIW, I'm not for or against them, there are a lot of different circumstances in many different situations.
The idea of wages catching up was something they taught in business school a few years back. There are charts/projections based on when this will happen. Inflation will increase as the country develops.

I haven't read the book but I read some on it just now and get the general idea. Thanks for the title of the book btw. That kind of thing has been going on inside of this country as well. A couple of examples are how they developed the railroad and grain industry in the Midwest, or our coal mines down south. I know of people that have worked in the mines and I've been told how they owned everything from the local stores to the houses they rent to the workers. So that is another form of localizing cheap labor. I think on an international scale as told by Perkins, it may have caused a lot of deep seated resentment as well.
I do think that some of the individuals that are now becoming wealthy and influential will have an effect on the government over time. How far that goes I don't know.

Steve Mack

iTrader: (5)

When Saturn started out it wanted to beat the Japanese car makers.So the ended up doing what the Japanese did.They took the best transmissions and engines from the Japanese and other country's and reversed engineered the parts.Also many U.S. auto manufacturers use overseas car company's parts in there cars and trucks.

conlinj

iTrader: (3)

Was anyone ever able to measure the plenum on the Speedmaster plenum to see if it was smaller than the HSR one? I have a HSR now in my camaro, I'm considering putting the engine in my formula. I'm really trying to keep the stock hood on the formula.

Thanks,

-Jim

92rsvortec350

iTrader: (8)

Its 4"

bitchin86

Has anyone bought one latley? I don't see them in stock anywhere and really want one for my 406 build. Anyone got ebay links or anything? Jegs always says out of stock

Orr89RocZ

iTrader: (20)

I havent seen any on ebay. Some china looking single plane efi but thats it

bitchin86

That's all I'm finding too. Make me wonder if they are cracking down on them

anesthes

iTrader: (12)

No. Just a production shortage. They are not the first to knock off that basic design. Remember this gem from the 1980s ?



-- Joe

Orr89RocZ

iTrader: (20)

Anyone think these are any good?
http://m.ebay.com/itm/390773513756?nav=SEARCH

anesthes

iTrader: (12)

Ran one for two years. Just sold it. Goes to a 1206 with minimal effort. Only issue is its VERY high.


-- Joe

Orr89RocZ

iTrader: (20)

Is that same as procomp hurricanes? Seems so but even cheaper.

Its 6" tall, was hoping to fab a plenum to fit under stock 91 camaro hood

anesthes

iTrader: (12)

Same, even same part number..

I used a 3848 elbow and LS2 throttle body. It fit under the COWL of a formula hood. (For sale!)

Flipped the other way, with a LS1 (80mm) throttle body it had like slivers of room.

The water neck is too tall to run a throttle body forward without a 6" cowl hood.

Nice intake but I finally decided I wanted a forward facing throttle body.

$175 is about right for a non-polished. Sold mine sunday with holley fuel rails, dual crossover, afpr and 50lb injectors.


-- Joe

project89

iTrader: (1)

the plenums are in stock , im still have tempted to try the 8 stack weber intake with itb's, the crossflow one

thebandit50187

true but thats the big block super ram

thebandit50187

so Holley made a small block version of Accel's Super Ram. lol i figured Holley stole the idea somewhere lol too simple of a design for a big company like Holley to create on their own lol

anesthes

iTrader: (12)

I installed my General Tso's Stealth Ram today.

I forgot to take pictures after porting but I did take a picture when I marked the ports. I first marked them with a 1205 I had on the shelf, and then when the 1206s came in that I ordered I redid the outline. Anyhow. It does fit a 1206, height wise just barely.

I used holley rails. I had to whack the crap out of the rail to seat the injectors. The injector spacing on the holley rails is slightly different. Not enough to cause an issue I think, but it is somewhat obvious. The holley spacing is wider.

After torquing down the manifold, I can see a little bit of the blue from the gasket around the port. Hopefully it seals.



-- Joe

big hammer

I finally started cleaning mine up. Port alignment isn't good. But it's fixable.

big hammer

Ports can be fixed, and you can make a big straight runner out of them. Lots of meat in there. However the bad port alignment also throws the injector holes out slightly, making it hard to bolt the rails in. But it is do able.

If you are the type of guy who is going to buy an intake and port the snot out of it anyway then this works good. But if you just want to bolt it on and go then get the real thing.

anesthes

iTrader: (12)

Which rails did you use?

I used holley rails, and did notice the injector spacing is slightly different than the rails. I don't think it will be an issue but it is a hair different.

-- Joe

big hammer

I used Holley rails. I had to beat them pretty good for the holes to line up. But in the end they did work.

big hammer

Also the threaded bolt holes are standard thread and not metric like the stock intake

big hammer

Aids on a door bell. I had to angle grind right across the intake just so it would seat down. Fixable, but this thing is poorly casted

TKR Performance

iTrader: (1)

How bad was it to install? I have one that is already ported, I just haven't put it on my motor yet. Any snags I need to watch out for?

big hammer

Not a terrible amount harder, just have to be aware of the bolt hole thread difference, and that you have to do a lot of grinding across the intake near the valve cover and oil pressure sensor to get it to seat down. Other than that it's coming together but I haven't finished mine yet

project89

iTrader: (1)

picture of what u had to grind? i assume this was stock heads?
i think those of us in this thread that have installed them so far was all aftermarket heads. i didnt have to grind anything down on mine

if anyone else picks on up , or has recently please post pictures of the ports , it be intersting to see if anything has changed witht he casting since i ordered got my first one

anesthes

iTrader: (12)

He's talking about the edge of the casting. I bought mine slightly used, and I noticed the kid ground the edges a little so it wouldn't hit the valve cover. I wish he didn't cuz he went a little too far which made covering my 1206 ports interesting.

On stock heads, I suspect this hits the valve cover. On heads like yours and mine with raised runners we have tons of clearance.

I had to do the same thing to a edelbrock rpm air gap and some vette 128 heads. This is probably also why when I got the knock off BBS header my turbo hit the valve cover. Our aftermarket heads are way raised.

-- Joe

big hammer

I'm having trouble pasting photobucket links from my phone. But yes, it hits a lip on the head by the valve cover.

It also needs a lot of clearancing by the oil pressure sensor

big hammer

I'm having a hell of a time getting it to run right. Bolt on 87 L98

anesthes

iTrader: (12)

Did you re-tune the ecm?

The intake is going to need a lot more AE.

-- Joe

anesthes

iTrader: (12)

You know what sucks, the plenum covers the throttle blade adjustment screw so you can't easily make adjustments with the engine running. I had to slot the screw where it contacts the throttle arm.

Also, the throttle stop lever hit the plenum. I had to bend it outward a hair.

I'm using a braided front crossover rather than the hard one holley supplied. We'll see.

I bought new holley gaskets. This HSR design is dumb, it should use a 1pc gasket and 8 bolts. I'm surprised guys don't have epic vac leaks.


-- Joe

big hammer

I got it running properly. It was my own boner mistake.

I had to bend my throttle linkage just a touch too. Other than that this intake is much easier to service than the stock one.

I think I have a couple fouled plugs from trying to get it running. Other than that it's running good now with no check engine light

project89

iTrader: (1)

nice job

anethes i ran my x over in the back with braided line , its just long enough to go around the distrubutor and leave enough room i can adjust the timing.

made it easier for me to plub the feed and return line with the crosove on the back of the intake